After more than twelve years in the software development business, I’ve changed careers! I’ve traded the high tech world for a job with no pay, lousy hours, and working conditions that would probably send OSHA into a frenzy. (There are days when I don’t even get bathroom breaks!) I love my new job, but one can’t help but compare the old career and the new one…

Meetings used to be held in conference rooms, with coffee, and sometimes even doughnuts. Now they’re in a room with itty-bitty chairs and shin-high tables.

Release dates used to be six months apart. Now I have a release every morning, and a bell that rings to tell me it’s late.

Someone else used to test my work and report back errors they found by e-mail. Now a small fist dispenses with unsatisfactory effort by flinging it on the floor.

I used to occasionally travel on business. Travel was by air, and accommodations were hotels with room service. Now travel is in an overstuffed Civic, which is required to stop at every rest stop. Accommodations are camper cabins with bathrooms in another building.

Performance reviews used to be every six months. I won’t have a review on these products for about another twenty years.

Somebody else used to dust my office and clean the bathrooms. Now I’m lucky if somebody else picks up their Legos before I emboss my feet.

On the other hand…

I haven’t had to wear pantyhose for an entire year.

I don’t have to fill out a form to purchase supplies.

There’s no office gossip, unless you count "Zachary called me stinky butt".

My bonuses are paid in hugs.

And then there’s the benefits package. What’s medical insurance compared to big toothless grins, Halloween parades, and watching someone small finally learn to write the number 2 frontwards?